History of Early American Automobile Industry
1891-1929

Chapter 24

1916

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  Addendum1  Addendum 2   Addendum 3

Without one little hiccup, 1916 took up where 1915 left off. In every category, the industry continued to improve by leaps and bounds. by the summer, some makers had seen their orders for aubomibles quadruple from the year before and profits were doubling across the board. As usual, Ford was leading the way. Their seasonal sales had reached the 500,000 mark and had $35,000,000 in the bank. a figure of 1,000,000 cars for the coming season was predicted. Overland had the second highest total with 150,000 sold. Parts suppliers were expanding their factory sizes to keep up with the demand.

By year's end, the Dixie Highway was almost completed and over 25,000 cars had traveled the entire route. Plans got under way for the Andrew Jackson Highway that was starting in Chicago, IL and ending at New Orleans. The route was through Indiana, Kentucky, Tennesee., and Louisana. A trans-continental highway, called Lewis and Clark, from Savannah, GA to Seattle, WA,  was to be formally launched at a meeting soon to be held in February in Omaha.

By this time, most manufacturers had stopped making major yearly model changes.The only changes were updating engine sizes from four to sixes and to eights. and some from eights to sixes.

The price of gasoline was constantly on the rise and experimenting with every idea that was conceived was tried. The median price per gallon was 23 cents. A high as 40 cents per gallon was predicted by years end. One of the reasons was the Texas oil fields were being depleted. The enlargement of cylinder numbers drastically reduced the miles per gallon.

On a smaller scale, another business was being used by the automobile as reported in the January 6 issue of the Motor Age Magazine. " Montgomery, Ala., Jan. 5In characteristic fashion, M. J. Rambo, known to revenue officers as the "motorized moonshiner," met his death a few days ago, in Covington county, Ala. Rambo was accustomed to remove his illicitly manufactured whisky from his still by motor car and had succeeded in evading the officers for some time. On his last trip, however, he overloaded the car and it broke down on the road. Revenue officers came upon him near his still. Rambo opened fire and wounded one of the deputies. A fusillade of shots followed and Rambo was killed."

One of the greatest agreements to come from the industry was reported in the Jan 7 Issue, Motor Age Magazine

NEW YORK, Jan. 7Announcement was made yesterday that the cross licensing agreement in connection with patent rights, which had been under way among the manufacturers of the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce, has become effective through the joining in. the agreement of seventy-nine companies whose verified patents exceed 350, and when are all recorded, are expected to run to 500 or more, covering all the various forms of detail construction found in motor cars. Under this plan, makers license one another under the patents which they control, all with a view to avoiding litigation on the minor forms of improvements in motor car construction which have developed with the business, but which are in
no way fundamental.

This extraordinary plan to exchange licenses among motor car builders, has caused astonishment among leaders of other industries who look upon it as one of the greatest pieces of co-operation that has been recorded in business. The result is expected to tend towards further improvements and increased values in cars, to the ultimate benefit of the retail buyer. It has long been felt that the legitimate profit in the motor car business came from scientific manufacturing and selling of cars and not from the exploitation of minor patents which generally do not represent more than the incidental development of motor cars for which engineers are generally responsible, whether they take out patents of minor importance or not.

Freedom of Originality

Manufacturing companies are left free to display their originality along the line of design patents, while of course basis patents or those of a fundamental nature do not come within the operation of the agreement.he strongest argument in favor of the cross-lieensing agreement has been the fact that no matter how many patents any single company owned, it was certain that license rights under the aggregation of patents of all the other companies would be of more value than any one member's ndividual patents. The successful outcome of this interchange of patent rights is expected to cement to an even more marked degree, the co-operative spirit that has been a dominant factor in the great success of the motor industry

Copied from the Motor Age Magazine

NEW YORK, Feb. 18The United States circuit court of appeals, Justice Laeombe presiding, has just handed down a decision affirming the decision of Justice Hunt, C. J., in the United States district court, who declared the Perlman demountable rim patent valid, and infringed by the Standard Welding Co., Cleveland, O. An injunction and accounting order
against this company was issued last August by the lower court. The Perlman demountable rim patent case is of more than ordinary interest because it affects the use of demountable
rims on nearly all the cars made and now in service in this country. The Ford is the only car which does not use demountable rims as a regular and standard equipment. The Perlman demountable rim patents were applied for in 1906, and the patent was finally granted after many years of delay in the patent office, on February 4, 1913.

1916 Hull Gasoline Pump Advertisement

1916 Automobile Heater

1916 Gray and Davis Advertisement

Laurel

Motor Age Magazine

The Laurel Motor Car Co., Bichmond, Ind., announces a new four-cylinder car to sell at $750, and soon will have ready a six that will sell somewhat under the $1,000 mark. Details of the six are not forthcoming at the present time, but specifications of the four include a blockcast motor with cylinders measuring 31/2 by 43/4 inches, rated at 22.5 horsepower at 935 feet piston speed per minute, instead of at 1,000 feet of piston speed per minute, as given in the usual practices, according to the N. A. C. C. formula. Valves are extra large and much care has been taken in the timing arrangement so that a large amount of power is available. Under actual brake test the motor is said to give 31.9 horsepower at2,000 r.p.m., and 36.9 horsepower at 2,800 r.p.m.

1916 Laurel Automobile

The Laurel Motor Car Company,Richamond, IN, announced its plans to build the Lauel automobile that was to be a four-cylinder touring car for $795. 213 cars were built. In November, the company was reorganized as the Laurel Motors Corporation and moved to Anderson, IN. The new Laurel engine was to be a  Roof 16-valve engine. The company was only able to build a few cars each year until 1920 when it ceased operations.

Sun

1916 MOTOR AGE Magazine

A Sun SIX car has been put on the market by the Sun Motor Car Co., of Elkhart, Ind., in five-passenger touring, four-passenger roadster and five-passenger sedan style . The touring car models are listed at $1,095. Although this is an assembled car, in exterior appearance the lines are characteristic. The wheelbase is 116 inches and this space has been used in a way to give good body room in both the forward andrear compartments. The motor is a six-cylinder L-head 3-by 5 with removable cylinder head and featured by what the Sun company calls a dual ejector exhaust, the idea of this being that the ejector principle is used in having the exhaust from one cylinder create a vacuum to lessen the back pressure on the next cylinder. Both the intake manifold and the hot-air connections for the carbureter are integral with the cylinder casting. The 20-gallon gasoline tank is placed at the rear of the chassis and fuel is fed to the carbureter by the Stewart vacuum system. The carbureter is a Bayfield.

1916 Sun Automobile Roadster

1916 Sun Touring Automobile

Contrary to the majority of 1917 announcements the Sun company has left the prices where they were, these ranging from $1,095 to $1,295. The double cowl is found on the four-passenger roadster and seven-passenger touring bodies. These are built with high body sides which almost eliminate any rise in the body line at the center cowl. The slanting wind-
shield appears on all models.

1917 Sun Sedan Automobile

In 1916, The Sun Motor Car Company, designed  by Roscoe C. Hoffman, made his "The Sun Outshines Them All" Sun automobiles as a light six with 23 horse power on a 116 inch wheelbase with a price tag of $1,000. The president of the company was R. Crawford. Both he and Hoffman were formerly connected to the Haynes company. It was supposed to have been built in Buffalo, NY, but was moved to Elkhart, IN before production started. An initial order of 3,500 Beaver engines were ordered, but only 337 were made before it went into receivership. The purchaser of the assests was the Automotive Corporation of America which built a Sun model in 1921.

Accessories Manufacturing Progression

Motor Age Magazine

Progress in accessory design bears a much stronger relationship to the car than is generally surmised. The speed possibilities of the high-speed motor may be all attributed to the engine engineer, but the speed would not be possible without ignition apparatus capable of furnishing an adequate spark for all speed variations. The high-speed motor would not be
possible without the lubricating oil that can withstand such speeds and temperatures and yet furnish that necessary film of oil around the revolving shaft. Speed would not be possible
were it not that the maker of metals is developing aluminum or other alloys, which, because of their exceeding light weight, make higher piston speeds possible.

Go through the new motor car and you will find that its present day evolution is not the work of one mechanical engineer, but the culmination of the efforts of perhaps several scores of engineers. It can truly be said that each car is the work of a hundred engineers, perhaps two hundred engineers, and not of one .man, who may style himself the chief engineer of the car factory.

This analysis best cites what the accessory engineer has been doing during the past year. He has not been idle; he has been working from the rising of the sun to the setting thereof; he has been burning the midnight current; he haslabored assiduously over his task and he has played his part in giving us the motor car of 1916, a machine better and cheaper than has ever before been placed on the market.

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Production Demands The Current of Progress

Production has spoken, has uttered her voice in the car fields and accessory makers have heard and responded. Production means simplification in design, the use of fewer parts, fewer parts in carbureters, in magnetos, in startersand lower prices. Each week last year told of lower prices in cars, but the fact that lower prices in accessories had made lower prices in cars possible was not considered. But production has brought lower prices in accessories.

It has been possible for accessory makers to reduce prices because of the simpler designs and also the larger quantities in which their accessories have been produced. There is as much system in the production of spark plugs in our largest plants as in the assembly of cars. This is true of production in carbureter plants, in speedometer plants, in magneto factories, in short, in all up-to-minute accessory factories. Motion study has been worked out to the last word. Special assembly benches have been built to add the last iota to the capacity
of the assemblyman. The modern plant has been built, good lighting has been added, good ventilation and much more to aid in the work.

Accesory makers are going farther, particularly tire manufacturers, who are spending large sums in the betterment of their employes. The physical health is being looked after today as never before. Some factories require every workman and every workwoman to take a physical examination once a year. The aim is to improve efficiency by improving the worker.

The workman's club is springing up in the accessory field; the baseball teams are more general; there are more rest rooms in factories for the female workers; educational classes
are put on at night in the winter months; in short, there has been a big upheaval in the accessory worker's condition. The manufacturer has displayed commendable judgment in looking
after these important parts of the organization. The shrewd manufacturer has discovered that production depends on human beings as well as on machines and organization.

Gadabout

The Gadabout was 1914 model cyclecar with a side-by-side seating, 86-inch wheelbase, 46-inch treadwith a four-cylinder water-cooled engine producing 12 horsepower. The designer was Walter Gruenberger and the promoter was Phillip Heseltine. The company was Gadabout Motor Corporation that was located in Newark, NJ. The body was made of rattan.

1916 Gadabout

At the January Chicago Automobile Show it had a 104 inch wheelbase and it had a standard body. Before the end of 1916, the Gadabout was not in existence and was replaced by   the Heseltine model made by the Heseltine Motor Corporation.

Roamer

The car is the new Roamer which is being built by the Barley Mfg. Co., Streator, IL, The Barley company also manufactures the Halladay car, and outside of the territory to be handled by the importers of the Lancia, the Roamer car will carry the name Halladay Special. Among the main constructional features of the Roamer chassis are unit powerplant, with the gearshift in the center and drive on the left, floating rear axle, a wheelbase of 122-inches, three-quarter elliptic rear springs, and 34 by 4 tires. The motor is a standard Rutenber, blockcast, which with 3/4 by 5 diamensions is said to develop 46 horsepower on the block. The cylinder head is detachable in accordance with the latest ideas of motor designers, this permitting of ready access to the pistons, cylinder walls and valves

1916 Roamer Automobile

The company was founded in 1916 by Cloyd Y. Kenworthy, an electric-car distributor in New York, and Albert C. Barley, who was then working on the Halladay in Streator, Illinois. Kenworthy wanted to sell a gasoline-powered car to diversify his product line away from electric cars, the market for which was quickly drying up by 1915. Kenworthy was disappointed by every other gasoline-powered car on the market, though, and Kenworthy and Barley went on to employ an engineer named Karl H. Martin to design their own car which would eventually be named the Roamer. The car was named after a famous race horse, which played perfectly into the car's planned racy lines and sporting intent.

They bought the former Michigan Buggy Plant in Kalamzzoo, MI and began to produce the Roamer automobiles in the fall of 1916. "With long and low flowing lines and built with a bit more zest than other cars of the day, the Roamer was considered a performance-oriented vehicle. It was also considered a fairly blatant copy of more recognized automobiles. The radiator shell, for example, was a near carbon copy of the Rolls-Royce, and continued to be so until the company's demise in 1929.

1919 Romer Touring Automobile

1920 Romer Touring Automobile

1920 Roamer Advertisement

The war years held down production for lack of metals, but afterwards, sales picked up during the early twenties. Because it was an assembled car, Its popularity was never achieved amongst the general public. A smaller version called Barley was introduced in 1924, but neither versions lasted long. That year, Bartley sold hs company that eventually was located in Canada and was shut down in 1929. Prior to this, Kenworthy and Martin had left the company and were building cars under their names

Payment Plans

Motor Age Magazine

Owners to Get Model 6-30 for $482.50 Down

DETROIT, Feb. 11The Chalmers Motor Co. has made arrangements with the Agricultural Credit Co., Chicago, for the financing for dealers of the time sales of the model 6-30 Chalmers car. This is the model which was brought out late last year and which sells for $1,050. By the plan which has been worked out the customer is required to pay $450 cash on receipt of the car and $32.50 to cover the cost of insurance for 1 year and interest. The balance he pays in eight monthly payments of $75. The item of $32.50 covers interest on the notes at 6 per cent and the actual cost of the insurance for a year against fire and theft on 80 per cent of the list price of the car. The Agricultural Credit Co. buys the notes from the dealer or distributer less a very small brokerage. This concern is a large banking house which has carried on a farmer's credit plan for a number of years, enabling the farmer to finance his farm until revenues from crops came in, and its action in extending its field to cover motor cars is another instance of the recognition which high banking circles are taking of the motor vehicle industry. The directorate and official roster of the Agricultural Credit Co. contain the namesof some of the foremost bankers of thiscountry.

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Another Detroit Manufacturer Arranges for Time Sales by Agents Rates Are One-third Down and Rest in Installments

DETROIT, Mich., Feb. 11Arrangements have just been completed by the Commercial Investment Trust, with offices in New York and St. Louis, whereby Studebaker dealers have been placed in an advantageous position to finance the sale of Studebaker cars on deferred payments. On either of the Studebaker models the dealer is able to offer to sell the car to the customer for one-third down and the balance in eight equal monthly payments. The buyer of the car pays the regular list price. It often develops that a motor car buyer is anxious to get his car immediately but cannot pay the full amount at the time. Because of anticipated income, he can pay part and wishes credit for the balance. The plan of the Commercial Trust enables the dealer to handle such sales without tying up his own capital, and is a particular advantage for the dealer working on limited capital. The notes which the dealer gets from his customers are converted into cash by the Commercial Investment Trust, which assumes the collection of the notes. The arrangement with the Commercial Investment Trust is not intended to interfere with local banking arrangements which Studebaker dealers have, but is a provision for more extensive banking facilities, at the option of the dealer. The Studebaker Corp. states that it has no financial interest whatever in the Commercial Investment Trust, having simply been instrumental in effecting the plan for the benefit of its dealers. The Commercial Investment Trust and the Studebaker dealers handle their banking arrangements independently.

Dixie Flyer

1916   Motor Age Magazine

The Louisville show marked the first public appearance of the Dixie Flyer, made by the Dixie Motor Car Co., Louisville, Ky. The Dixie Flyer has a four-cylinder unit power plant with floating rear axle, 112-inch wheelbase, uses the Dyneto electric system of starting and lighting. Dual exhaust eliminates back pressure on the motor. The body is streamline of the yacht type, finished in bottle green, the high-crowned fenders and radiators are black enameled and wheels are finished in a light natural wood stain. The interior appointment is carried almost to the point of luxury, appealing to every sense of the lover of comfort and elegance. The instrument board is covered with buffed leather and outlined with raised aluminum binding, the interior of the doors are covered with the same heavy grade of upholstering material as the cushions, and the floors and toe board are covered with deep-piled carpet of a tan-olive shade, blending into the general color scheme. The Dixie flyer is furnished with complete equipment, including one-man top, quick detachable side curtains, etc., and showing room in driver's compartment a full complement of tools. The car sells for $775.

1916 Dixie Flyer Touring Automobile

1916 Dixie Flyer Four-Seater Roadster Automobile

The Kentucky Wagon Works, Louisville, KY, had purchased the remnants of the defunct Hercules Automobile CO and moved it to Louisville where they had made the bodies for it.    Plans were made to make the Hercules car at a price tag of $675.00, but in all probability, this decission was not carried through, because of the reputation of the company was tarnished by previous lawsuits. The previous owners had pleaded guilty. Even though, it had been under developement for over a year as the Kentucky Kar, The car was introduced in 1916 as the Dixie Flyer, made by the Dixie Motor Car Company, a subsidery of the Kentucky Wagon Works. The most noticeable part of the automobile was the windshield that was molded to the shape of the cowl and bolted upright.

1919 Dixie Flyer Touring Automobile

1919 Dixie Flyer Coupe Automobile

The 1919 Dixie Flyer, model H-S 50 had many refinements and improvements over former models and came in roadster and touring types, both listed at $1,365 The seats are deeper and wider, doors larger and the curtains open with all doors. Instead of rubber matting the floors are covered with linoleum, metal bound. Celluoid windows in rear curtain have been
replaced with bevel glass types. Upholstery is Turkish plait. The wheelbase is 112 in. and the tire size 32 by 4 in. all around. 

1920 Dixie Flyer Two Door Sedan

1920 Advertisement showing the Dixie Flyer automobile

Dixie Flyer Models for 1920

1922 Dixie Flyer Automobile Advertisement

Tired of the upheavels of the post war syndrome and the 1921 recession, the ownership decided to merge with the National and Jackson Companies and a corporation named Associated Motor Industries and Corporation was formed. The Dixie Flyer became the National model in 1924 ant that year all three models were gone.

Columbia

1916 Motor Age Magazine

So far have the plans of the Columbia Motor Co., recently organized in Detroit, by some prominent men in the industry among whom are W. E. Metzger and J. G. Bayerline, been completed that a preliminary idea of the type of car that is to be manufactured is now given out. Built on a wheelbase of 115 inches, the new Columbia is a six that should claim a position for itself due to its very pleasing outline and general good looks. modern type of body design is used in continuing the hood on exactly the same slope as the rest of the body, using a cowl at the back of the front seat, rounding the front of the body over, and slanting the windshield. The car will be constructed of standard units with the motor a 3 by 41/2 block-cast six having a multiple dry-disk and three-speed gearset in unit with it. There will be a two-unit starting and lighting system

1916 Columbia Touring Automobile

Thre excutives from the King Motor Car Company , J. G. Bayerline, Walter Daly, and  T. A. Bolinger, left and joined with William Metzer, maker of the former E. M. .F. company,   and a former employee of the Oldsmobile company, A. T. O'Conner, to form the Columbia Motors Company and build the Columbia Six automobile. It was an assembled automobile with some of the best parts available. Its main feature was a temperature controlled device that controlled the temperature of the water. The touring model sold for under $2,000 and the sportster was priced at $1,475.

It was a successful car  that had increased sales ewach year. However, when sales reahed the 6,000 mark in 1923, over confidence caused them to purchase the former B. F. Everitt Company and the Liberty Motor Car Company and within a year both car companies went bankrupt. 

February 17, 1916  MOTOR AGE

Gasoline and Whisky Booze Smuggling, a la Motor, Is a Very Fine Art in Arizona Extra Tanks and False Floors Used by Resourceful Bootleggers

PHOENIX, Ariz., Feb. 16Bootlegging has .become one of the principal industries of Arizona since the state went dry on the first day of last year, and the motor car is the principal tool employed by the most successful importers of the forbidden liquor. A young man named Reynolds and his wife owned a car and little else when the prohibition law went into effect. For nearly a year they made regular trips between El Centro, Cal., and Phoenix, each time carrying a number of kegs and bottles that were retailed at great profit to the thirsty of Arizona's capital. Finally they were captured and Eeynolds now is waiting trial. The officers at Clifton became suspicious of a young man who made frequent trips to Lordsburg, N. M., with his big Velie. They arrested him one night and examined the car. Beneath a false floor, which had been fitted in the tonneau, were 80 quarts of liquor.

It is said that bootlegging is more of a fine art in the mining camp of Miami than anywhere else in Arizona. One suspect recently arrested, had fitted copper compartments under the seats of his car which were full of corn whisky, when he was taken into custody. More than one machine has been driven over to California and shipped back to Arizona with the tank full of something that was not gasoline. Two Los Angeles youths made a business of stealing Fords in that city, loading them with liquor, driving over to Arizona and selling cars and cargoes. They sold the Fords so cheaply that suspicion was directed to them and they were extradited to California to face trial for grand larceny. It is almost impossible to import liquor into the southeastern part of the state without the aid of a motor car. Joy rides across the New Mexican line to such uninteresting places as Bodeo have become strangely popular. Sometimes the joy riders load the car with liquor but often they take along women friends who conceal the bottles about their persons. Even if some suspicious officer searches the car, he is not likely to be so ungallant as to search the garments of a lady.

Anderson

1916 Motor Age Magazine

The Anderson 6-40, made by the Anderson Motor Car Co., Rock Hill, S. C, has the distinction of being the only car built in the South, and by building in the South is meant the construction of the body, all upholstering, painting, finishing, trimming, etc. The company, being controlled by the Rock Hill Buggy Co., utilizes that plant for the construction of its cars. The Anderson six has been in course of construction and through an experimental stage covering almost 2 years, and the result is a light six selling in roadster and touring body styles at $1,250, f. o. b., Bock Hill, S. C. This inludes a heater for winter use, moto-meter, power tire pump, cigar lighter, auxiliary seat, a search light which also may be used as a trouble light. Besides this there is included demountable rims, one man top, Crown fenders with splash guards, ventilating windshield, speedometer, hand pump, and repair kit. While the wheelbase is 120 inches, the total length of the frame is 162 inches. The tires are 33 by 4

1916 Anderson Automobiles, the first car to offer a heater as standard equipment

The Anderson 6-40,  will be continued without mechanical change for the 1917 selling season. A combination roadster is the only addition to the line, and this is probably the most novel construction of any car that has been offered this season. The new job is a five-passenger roadster. The rear seat can be folded up and covered by a very simple operation converting the car into a two-passenger roadster. It is really a roadster and touring car combined with all the advantages of both. When the rear seat is closed the space between the individual front seats, which allows entrance to the rear compartment, is also closed by an upholstered panel which folds from the floor. The opposite side of the panel is covered with carpet and serves as a part of the floor when the rear compartment is opened.

1917 Anderson Five-Seat Roadster Automobile

The Rock Hill Buggy Company,  Rock Hill, South Carolina, was no stranger to the automotive industry. An unsuccessful 1910 Anderson soon folded. They made commercial bodies for the T-Model Fords. They tried again in 1916  the Anderson Six was one of the most successful cars built. John G. Anderson hired Joseph Anglada, the designer of the Liberty model as his chief enginer. With Anglada's chassis and Anderson Motor Company's exemplary coach work, the automobile was an one of the finest. The automobile was produced in 1916 and the Anderson company was incorporated that December. The acceptance of the car was great and with government contracts, it was able to overcome the war years.

1920 Anderson Six

A high of 1,180 cars made in 1920 and was surpassed the in 1923 with 1,800 being made. This was their best year. They began to get cutsey and with a batch of bad Continential engines., the company was on its way down. A fatal fire in 1924 caused the factory to close down.

PACKARD PAYS CITIZENSHIP COST

"Detroit, Mich., Feb. 14The Packard Motor Car Co. has announced that it will pay the fees required of any of its alien employes who may desire to take out first papers toward American citizenship. This follows the announcement made January 31 to the effect that only American citizens, or those of foreign birth who have relinquished their foreign citizenship and who have filed their applications for citizenship, "will be given promotions to positions of importance, and that loyalty to the United States is a pre-requisite to employment.
Practically every man of foreign birth who stands in the line of men, to be seen any day seeking employment at the Packard plant, has his first papers tightly clutched in his hand. This fact shows that even those who have not yet mastered the language have thoroughly learned the meaning of the new Packard policy. The company offers practical help in training foreign-born employes to become citizens. One class in English for foreigners is being conducted several nights a week at the factory, and two more classes are in preparation. Two welfare department men are studying the best methods of teaching English, so as to be able to qualify as instructors"

Other manufacturers soon followed Packards policy.

Bour-Davis

Three men, all from Chicago,  Robert Davis who worked for a steamship company, Charles Bour who worked for an advertising agency, and E. C. Noe who was a railroad man, to Detroit to produce a car designed by A. A. Gloetzner. The car was put into production in 1916 and the press loved it. The radiator and the windshield were at the same angle. The sloping of the rear of the body gave it a distinctive style.

1916 Bour-Davis Touring Automobile

Copied from 1919 Motor Age Magazine

The Bour Davis car which was announced several years ago again is being made. The Louisiana Motor Car Co., Inc., Shreveport, La., recently acquired the former interests of the Bour-Davis Motor Car Co. and persuaded W. F. French who was connected with the Bour-Davis Co. to take up the building of the car under the direction of the new company. The Louisiana Motor Car Co. now is making the L-M-C truck and the Bour Davis car, the latter having been under active production for three months. The Bour Davis car is an assembled product, incorporating such standard parts as the Continental engine, Borg & Beck clutch, Muncie transmission and Salisbury rear axle. The wheelbase of the car is 118 in. and the approximate weight is 2900 lb. The Continental engine with its bore and stroke of 33/4 by 41/2 in. has an S.A.E. rating of 25.35 hp.Tires are 32 by 4, Goodyear. The car lists at $1,595.

It was advertised as a southern car made by southern men who understood the southern conditions that must be met in the South.  However,  it was the same car that left Detroit. Enough material for 700 cars was ordered in 1920 just as the post war recession set in. It went into recivership in 1921and struggled for two more years before going out of business. 

Liberty

1916 Motor Age Magazine.

The new car is to be manufactured in large quantity by the Liberty Motor Car Co., Detroit, one of the newcomers of last fall, which is headed by Percy Owen, prominent in the field as sales manager of the Chalmers company and later connected with the Saxon concern. Things have been moving rapidly since Mr. Owen organized his new company, and not only are the first cars on the road, but within a very short time the first production models will be coming through. At present only a five-passenger touring model is to be supplied, and this is to sell for $1095. The six-cylinder motor has a bore of 3/12 inches by a stroke of 41/2   inches, which dimensions give an N. A. C. C. rating of  23.4 horsepower The wheelbase of 115. inches.

1916 Liberty Automobile

The Liberty Motor Car Company, Detroit, MI, wa formed in 1916 with a capital tock of $400,000 and the automobile was to be a medium priced model with a most beautiful body. Percy Owen who formerly was  the vice-president of the Saxon Automobile Company was behind the Liberty venture. Coming with him were R.E. Cole as engineer and H. M. Wirth as purchasing agent. The Liberty was a six-cylinder and was introduced in the summer of 1916. The first engine was a Contenential, but later the company designed its own engine in 1921. It had a very good beginning with 600 cars being made the first year and by 1919, 6000 were made.

Liberty Automobile Advertisement for 1917 Town Car

1919 Liberty Closed Coupe Automobile

Its highest production was 11,000 in 1921. The Liberty was relocated to a large factory, but financial trouble soon followed. Because of failure of parts to be delivered on time, automobiles could not be delivered. Reorganization was attempted without success in 1923 and the company's assests were sold to the Columbia Motor Car Company that used  the leftover parts to make a few more Liberty cars. In 1924, Columbia also went bankrupt.

1918 Liberty-Six Automobile Advertisement

1920 Liberty Six Touring

Brown

1916 Motor Age Magazine

In introducing its new line of pleasure and commercial cars the Brown Carriage Co., Cincinnati, O., does not claim them to be the creations of a corps of engineers, but instead, that the machines are made up of assembled parts constructed by capable and well-known manufacturers in the motor car line.

1916 Brown Automobile

The Brown automobile was built by the Brown Carriage Company of Cincinnati, OH. in 1916. It started with two ideas: the first one was four-cylinder, five passenger on a 106-inch wheelbase with a price tag of $735 and a commercial model that was prices at $675. The problem with ths car was that it was identical with a large number of other makers and both ideals did not last through 1917.

Aland

August 1916, MOTOR AGE

For the last few months there has been considerable talk of the sixteen-valve four-cylinder cars and the latest of these to be mentioned is the Aland, made by the Aland Motor Car Co., Detroit, Mich. This company is incorporated under the laws of Michigan with a total capital of $500,000. One chassis model with several body styles, but production will first be started on a five-passenger touring and a two-passenger roadster. The paramount feature of the design is the use of a high-speed sixteen-valve aluminum engine and in keeping with the intention to have the weight as low as possible throughout, the car will be characterized by a liberal use of high-tensile strength steel. Throughout the entire design the matter of price will be a secondary consideration and as a result this has not been definitely fixed although in all probabilities the car will retail for about $1500. While rated at 14 horsepower according to the S. A. E. formula, the manufacturer states that the engine will develop more than 65 horsepower at 3,200 r. p. m

1916 Aland Automobile

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R. C. Aland, an engineer, incorporated his Aland Motor Car Company, Detroit, MI, for $500,000 in 1916. It had brakes on all four wheels which probably was the first automobile to do so. Production began in December and was out of business by the next December.

Elcar

The Elkhart Cariage and Harness Manufacturing Company had been making top quality products since before the turn of the century, when in 1906, a decision was made to enter into the automobile market. William B. Pratt was the president and secretary and his brother George B . was the vice-president and treasurer. Instead of selling to agents and dealers, they sold directly to customers by mail order. Selling automobiles by this method was quite differently than selling carriages and their business was less than desireable and so was their car that was a high wheeler. After experimenting with their designs, they finally produced a excellent four-cylinder, five-passenger touring car in   late 1909 for the 1910 selling season that was priced at $1, 600.  A seven passenger followed in 1911. Their  car was too high priced for their carriage trade and they decided to sell through dealers. When another company, Crow-Elkhart, started a company, the Elkhart was dropped from their Pratt-Elkhart. Their cars got bigger and so did their prices, but their sales did not. They offered only one model in 1914.

1910 Pratt Elkhart Touring Automobile

They reorganized their company  in 1915 to Pratt Motor Car Company, but before the end of the year, it was  reorganized again as the Elkhart Carriage and Motor Car Company with its model known as the Elcar. The Elcar was introduced in 1916.

1916 Elcar Touring Automobile

Their new model was a four-cylinder and priced at $795. They soon stopped making carriages and focused their attention to their new product. During the war years, they made ambulance bodies for the government in addition of making their cars. In 1921, they sold their company to a group that were former Auburn workers and the Pratts retired. The company was reorganized as  the Elcar Motor Company. In 1922. they won the business for making 1,000 cars the Diamond Taxicab Company of New York City. The Elcar compnay's recognized their limitations and did not try to exceed them and they were prosperous through the 1920's. Recievership was temporarily avoided when the stock marked crashed in 1929, but it did not in 1931.

1918 Elcar Automobile Advertisement

Hackett

A four-cylinder five-passenger car at $888 with distinctive straight-line body and low, comfortable seats is the initial offering of the new Hackett Motor Car Co., Jackson, Mich. The body design is original, a straight line running from the top corners of the radiator all the way back. In addition there will be a runabout at the same price seating three, with the driver's seat slightly ahead of the other two, a cabriolet for about $1,000 and a winter top for the five-passenger at $110 aditional. The chassis is standard with a unit power plant consisting of a 37 horsepower motor, G. B. & S. clutch. Grant-Lees gear-box, and Walker-Weiss axles. Wheelbase is 112 inches and tires are 32 by 31/2 with demountable rims and Ajax
tires.

1916 Hackett Automobile
Wooden Wheels

1917 Hackett Roadster Automobile
Wire Wheels

Anslo Hackett owned the Disco Starter Company in Detroit and another company that bought bankrupt automobile companies. In September of 1916, he decided to get into the manufacturing business. He bought Benjamin Brisco's former Argo factory in Jackson, MI. His first cars were four cylinders and introduced that year as the 1917 models. The Hackett Motor Car Company's engineer, Fred M. Guy developed a rotary engine, the car remaine a four-cylinder for its short life span.  Hackett demoted himself to being the general manager with an investor, J. S. Johnston becoming the president. The unavailibility of getting parts in 1918 caused a slowdown in production. Production resumed in 1919 to 12 cars a week. Reorganization was tried in 1919, but failed . David Buick, builder of the Buick car, bought the factory to build his new Loraine car. Hackett went back to buying bankrupt companies and Fred Guy produced his Ace automobile.

Yale

December 28, 1916 MOTOR AGE

The Yale eight, a new production and made by the Saginaw Motor Car Co., Saginaw, Mich., for the present, will be supplied only in seven-passenger form at $1,350, though the addition of a winter top is contemplated. The attempt to reduce wind resistance to the minimum is apparent in the body design. The hood is tapered to blend well with the rather deep cowl and the sides are perfectly smooth. The windshield is smartly raked. Great care has been taken to insure ex-cellent riding qualities and to this end the weight has been proportioned over front and rear axles only after long experiment. The spring suspension is normal in front, but in the rear there is modification of the three-quarter elliptic idea, which, however, does not appear unusual to the eye. The springs are 56 inches long. The motor is the Saginaw company's own product and is an eight-cylinder 31/2 by 41/2 inches and giving a rated horse-power of 31.25. The cylinders are L head with the valves on the inside and operated by a single camshaft.

1916 Yale Automobile

1917 Yale Speedster Automobile

Louis Lampke was a former engineer for the Palmer-Singer Motor Car Company in New York and the   Lion in Michigan. He decided to build a car in Mount Pleasant, MI., of his own design in 1915. The car went nowheres. He went to Saginaw to see if he could find some interest in his automobile, but it received the same reception as it did in Mount Pleasant. However they were interested in the man behind the car and the Saginaw Motor Company was orginized in June, 1916 with four prominent businessmen behind it. These men held the executives positions and Lampke was in charge of production. The car was to be called Saginaw, but another company ha just started a company with Saginaw as its name. The townspeople were given the choice to name the car and Yale was its name. Lampke's original car was a four cylinder, but it was now put into production as an eight cylinder that was bigger and more expensive. The former Argo Electric factory was bought and production began in 1916  with a $1,350 seven passenger touring car. In 1917, a roadster and a rumbleseat speedster were built with a price tag of $1,550. In 1918, the price tag was now $1,885, but the company was in trouble and in March of 1918, the assests were sold to the Nelson Brothers to make their Jumbo trucks.

Kent

December 28, 1916 MOTOR AGE

A very attractive body distinguishes the Kent, a newcomer in the passenger car field. This $985 car has a four-cylinder motor and is assembled from standard parts. It is produced by the Kent Motors Corp., Newark, N. J. The 2500-lb. car is powered with a Continental 31/2 by 5 motor and is procurable either in a five-passenger touring or a four-passenger club roadster body. The body of the new Kent has a racy appearance due to the low body, regular lines and rakish windshield and steering post. The body lines confirm with most recent
accepted practice. The radiator is high and narrow and the lines from this to the rear are unbroken. The clutch is dry-disk, and the gearset conventional three speeds forward and reverse. Springs are semi-elliptic in front, 2-in. wide by 36-in. long and the rear are three-quarter elliptic, 2-in. wide and 50-in. long. The wheelbase is 116 in. and the tires 32 by 4.

1916 Kent Automobile

The Kent Motors Corporation was a dealership in New York City that exported cars to Latin America. The original plans were to build cars in Havana, Cuba, but they built a factory in Newark, NJ. In 1916, the Kent Motors Company was incorporated for $200,000 with several investors and production began.  Stock was offered in January, 1917. The Kent was just another ordinary car of the period. The investors behind the company proved its undoing for in 1917 when they were indicted for stock fraud. and convicted.

1917 Kent

Majestic

December 28, 1916 MOTOR AGE

The Majestic Motor Co., Inc., formerly  the Monitor Motor Car Co., New York, presents a new car of medium size and distinctive lines. It is an eight-cylinder four-passenger    convertible selling for $1,500. This includes a luncheon kit, thermos bottles, folding table, ice chest, and ladies toilet set. Mechanically the car is built up on conservative design. The eight-cylinder motor has a 3-in. bore and 5-in. stroke, and all valves are inclosed. Cooling is by thermo-syphon and lubrication by pressure feed. The electrical system includes Atwater
Kent for ignition. Gasoline from an 18-gal. tank on the rear is carried to the motor through a Stewart tank. The streamline body is made up of sheet metal over a wood frame and is hand finished in royal blue as a standard with a choice of two other color options. Tires are straight-side demountable 32 by 4 and the wheelbase is 125 in. The Majestic five-passenger oar, which sells for $1,500. The Viotoria top is extra equipment, a one-man top being standard.

1916 Majestic Automobile

The men behind this company were Harry Kitzinger, Frank Kately, Samuel Fein, and Max Monfreid. The only one who had any automobile experience was Kately who had been a sales manager for the Remington Motor Car Company. It was built on grand proportions with a V-eight engine on a 125 inch wheelbase. I was made in four body styles with prices ranging from $1,650 to $3500. Its catalogue described it to be such a car " that no description could convey a  fair impression".   Unfortunately, the picture in tha catalogue showed it to be just an ordinary car. It did not last a year.

Daniels

Copied from the 1916 Motor Age Magazine

The Daniels eight is to be built by the Dauiels Motor Car Co., the president of which is Geo. E. Daniels, who was president and general manager of the Oakland Motor Co.,
Pontiac, Mich., will be a car built practically to order, to sell for $2,350. The wheelbase will be 127 inches and the tires 34 by 4%. Unusual attention will be given to the finish and equipment of the seven-passenger body, which will have a double cowl. Heavy mahogany rail all around the top, long-grained, hand-buffed leather upholstery, mahogany cabinet fittings and other luxurious features. The motor will have V type, L-head cylinders, 33/4 by 5, giving a rating of 33.8, under the N. A. C. C. formula; the cylinders will be in two blocks, with integral intake manifold and bolted-on exhaust pipes and the valves will be actuated by a single camshaft carrying sixteen cams.

1915 Damiels Touring with a Victoria top Automobile

1921 Daniels Speedster Automobile

The Daniels, made in Reading, PA by the Daniels Motor Car Company, was a distinguished automobile made by distinguished businessmen. George Daniels was a former President of the Oakland and vice-president of General Motors who knew how to handle business. His associate was Neff E. Parish who owned the Parish Pressed Steel Company and was a noted metalurgist and had built frames for some of the best car manufacturers in the business. It was known as "The Distinguished Car for the Discriminiting". Production of 300 cars began in late 1916  and was made for individual preference.

1918 Daniels Town Car Advertisement

Previous to the 1919 moels, Herschell-Spillman eight-cylinder engines were used, but in 1919 Daniels made his own eight-cylinder engine, but becasuse it had problems,less that 200 were made. His next engine was a 90-horsepower with that he used after the war. By this time his price range was that of the luxury cars and he decided to produce 500 a year. To do so he had to reorganize his company to Daniels Motor Car Company with 10,000 shares to sell with an extremely high yield. This caused a riff between the too partners and Parrish left the company. This caused massive layoffs and the company was in terrible shape. His office workers were used on the assembling line to complete what cars he had. The cars were terrible and had a price tag of $10,000 each . A company specialing in parts bought the company in 1924.

Maibohm

Copied from the 1916 Motor Age Magazine

The Maibohm roadster has been introduced and is to sell at $595. This car is of the light car type with low-hung and distinctive lines. This car is the product of the Maibohm Motors Co., Racine, Wis., recently formed and headed by H. C. Maibohm, formerly connected with the Locomobile Co. of America and until recently president of the Motor Supplies Co. Associated with him are P. C. Maibohm, former president of the Maibohm Wagon Co., and J. E. Foster. The company will produce 2,000 cars during the first year, two-thirds of which    are said to be already sold to dealers. Particular attention has been paid to the comfort of passengers, the seats being unusually low and on an almost direct horizontal line with the pedals, which are adjustable to any desired leg room.  The four-cylinder, valve-in-head motor is provided with three-point suspension and is rated at 14.4 horsepower, having 3 by 5-inch cylinders.

1916 Maibohm Automobile

1919 Maibohm Closed Coupe

1919 Maibohm Closed Limousine

The Maibohm Wagon Compny, Racine, WI, was owned by Peter Maibohm,  a successful carriacge making firm since 1886. His son H. C. Maibohm, who had been previously employed by the Loconmoble company, decided to reorganize the family business into Maibohm Motors Company in 1916. His "All American Sports   Car" was a four cylinder light car and was in production that fall. In 1918, the Maibohm was upgraded to a six cylinder. All but a small portion of his factory was burned down in December. However he was able to continue using the section that was not hurt. He made plans to rebuild in Racine, but later decided to build a factory in Sandusky, OH, in 1917.  By March of 1920, his production was 30 cars a day. He temporarily went to New York to help with the Biddle Automobile Company until it went into receivership. When he returned to Sandusky, he learned that the Maibohm was also in dire straits. His creditors bought the company and a new concern, Arrows Motors, was given the rights to builed a refined version to be known as the Courier.The Courier lasted for just a few weeks.

1921 Maibohm Automobile Advertisement

The Year of Mergers

May 18, 1916 MOTOR AGE

Financial circles are agog over the completion of a giant merger of several of the leading parts and accessory-making concerns under the name of the United Motors Corp., with 1,200,000 shares of stock having no par value designated. The capital involved is probably in the neighborhood of $60,000,000, and the concerns to be merged are the newly-organized Perlman Rim Corp., New York and Jackson, Mich.; Dayton Engineering Laboratories Co., Dayton, OH., maker of the Delco electric apparatus; Remy Electric Co., Anderson, Ind., and Detroit, manufacturer of electric apparatus; Hyatt Roller Bearing Co., Newark, N. J., and Detroit, manufacturer of roller bearings; New Departure Mfg. Co.,
Bristol, Conn., manufacturer of ball bearings.

It is stated that each company will maintain its present officers and identity and name, the United Motors Corp. simply acting as a holding company. An underwriting syndicate has been formed to handle the stocks of each of the five companies. It is understood that the Perlman concern enters the merger on the basis of two shares of the new stock for each share of Perlman Rim stock. W. C. Durant, president of the Chevrolet Motor Co. and a big factor in the General Motors interests, is one of the principal figures in the new accessory combine,
as well as the newly-organized Perlman rim concern. L. G. Kaufmann, president of the Chatham & Phoenix National Bank, New York, and director of the General Motors Co. and of the Chevrolet company, is also prominently associated with the United Motors Corp. It is stated that the directors of the holding company will be representatives of the various accessory firms in the combine.

Alfred P. Sloan, Jr., vice-president and general manager of the Hyatt Roller Bearing Co., Newark, N. J., and Detroit, Mich., is president, and Edward A. Deeds, president of the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Co., Dayton, O., vice-president. De Witt Page, president of the New Departure Mfg. Co., Bristol, Conn., is secretary and treasurer. These men, together with L. G. Kaufman, president of the Chatham & Phoenix National Bank, New York, and S. A. Fletcher, a prominent banker of Indianapolis, Ind., comprise the board of
directors.

Stephens

Copied from the 1916 Motor Age Magazine

For the current season, the Stephens six maker is offering two bodies, a five-passenger touring car and a three-passenger roadster, each mounted on a chassis with a 115-in. wheelbase. The standard finish for both models is royal blue with gold striping and old ivory wheels, but on thirty days' notice, three color options may be hadBrewster green, maroon and black. Bearing the Continental stamping, the six-cylinder, block-cast motor of the Stephens six has a bore and stroke of 3 3/4 by 41/2  in., giving it a piston displacement of 224 cu. in., and develops 40 hp. at 2500 r.p.m.

1916 Stephens Roadster Automobile

The Stephans was the product of the Moline Plow Company in Freeport, IL and was road tested in the spring of 1916.  It was named after G. A. Stephans, son of the company's founder. E. A. Birdsall, who had designed cars for previous companies, was the designer.

1917 Stephens Automobile Advertisement

1920 Stephens Salient Six Advertisement

1920 Stephens Roadster

In 1919 John Willys, owner of the Overland automobiles, bought the Moline Plow Company. However, the Stephans was kept as a separate model and many of the officers stayed with the company. Because of  losses that farming machinery was having, the Stphans was removed and reorganized as Stephans Motor Car Company with the directors staying. In 1923, the Stephans were made in two models with different chassis. In 1924, the Stephans car was discontinued and the company returned to farm equipment

Jordan

1917 Jordan Limousine Automobile

Ned Jordan, former advertising manager for the Jeffery Automobile Company, decided to manufacture his own automobiles when the Jeffery company was sold to Charles Nash. In 1916, he incorporated the Jordan Motor Car Company in Cleveland, OH. It was not going to be just another American automobile. His cars were going to make a statement according to his artistic and poetic views. All of his automobiles were assembled, but they had the best parts that could be obtained. Production began in September of that year and by the model years end, 1,800 cars had been sold. 5,000 had been sold by 1918. His 1919 Playboy model was destined to be one of the country's most  memorable automobiles. It was time for him to use his poetic talents to work.

Copied from the February 1818, Motoer Age Magazine

JORDAN TO ADD $200,000 CAPITAL

A 50 per cent increase in the production of Jordan cars, made possible by a largely increased demand and the immediate acquistion of $200,000 additional capital, and the placing of Jordan stock on a definite dividend-paying basis, is part of a plan announced after a meeting of the board of directors following the annual stockholders' meeting held last week.
Jordan has, during the last year, done, a business of approximately $3,000,000 on    total, which is equivalent to 66.8 per cent for the year. The new plan provides for the sale of
$200,000 of preferred stock now in the treasury, with one-half share of common stock given as a bonus with each shar of preferred. This stock would be fully paid for and non essential. The preferred stock now held by the original stockholders, together with the new preferred issue, will be placed on a 7 per cent annual dividend basis, to be paid quarterly

1919 Jordan Playboy Coupe

"Some day in June, when happy hours abound, a wonderful girl and a wonderful boy will leave their friends in a shower of rice--and start to roam--Give them a Jordan Playboy, the blue sky overhead, the green turf flying by and a thousand miles of open road."

1919 Jordan Silhoutte Automobile Advertisement

1920   Jordan Playboy Coupe

1923 Jordan Playboy Advertisement

This famous advertisement would give him a seat at the head table in a hall full of advertisers. In 1923, he was traveling west with a lawyer friend in his private railcar. When he awoke from a nap, he looked out his and saw this beautiful young lady riding her horse. She looked as if she could be a champion rodeo rider. He asked his friend where were they. His friend told him that they were somewhere west of Laramie. This gave him an idea for his next advertisement and within a short time, he had his next advertisement completed.

1924 Jordan Two Door Sedan

1926 Jordan Motor Line Eight

In 1918, Jordan came to Amesbury, MA to have Walker Body Company make bodies for him. It was too much to ask at this time, but Walker incorporated a subsidery, Bryant Body Company, to do the work. This was for only sedan models. 1926 was the last year that Bryant made bodies for Walker needed the equipment and employees for his expansion.

1926 was Jordan's best year with over 11,000 being sold, but the next year was a disaster with a liitle over half of the production of 10,000 being sold. The Little Custom that was introduced that year accounted for half of the losses. The bodies for the 1927 models were made by Murray. This included the sedan models.

1927 Jordan Little Custom Sedan

1927 Jordan Little Custom Advertisement

The trouble with this model it was priced too high for such a small car and there were very few buyers and it drained the company's finances. Later in the year, his marriage was crumbling and his problem with alcohol was hurting his business. He hired Peerless' former chief executive, Edward Ver Linden, to take over as president. Jordan was seldom at the factory and couldn't be reached by Ver Linden. By the fall of 1928, Ver Linden was replaced by a former Chrysler man, John McArdle.

1929 Jordan Sedan Automobile

The Great Depression set in and as with a great deal of other makers, it spelled the end for Jordan. Reorganization in 1930 didn't help and it went into receivership in April of   1931. He taught the advertising world that it took more than mechanical facts of an an automobile to sell it; it took a dream of what one could experience with owning it.

Patterson-Greenfield

1913 C. R. Paterson & Sons Advertisement

In 1913, portions of Ohio was heavily damaged by floods. The 1913 Carriage Monthly Magazine sought information about the damages that the carriage industry had received. 

C. R. PATTERSON & SONS
Greenfield, O., April 15, 1913

Our city and immediate community suffered very little from the immediate effects of the recent floods. However, we felt the subsequent results keenly indeed. For two days we were completely isolated, no service whatever by railroad, telephone nor telegraph, and even at this time normal conditions of communication are far from complete restoration. Our business has suffered seriously in this way. For eight days we did not receive a single piece of mail from beyond our local routes, and now letters are coming in ten days overdue. We can not yet make shipments of our finished products in any direction, but arc compelled to hold them in the crates. Our materials are held up undelivered, which causes much inconvenience. To our
best judgment, these unfortunate conditions will continue for at least two weeks longer before all will be as it was. As for our trade, we do not feel that it will be permanently affected. It is simply a question of being able to reach our patronage.

C. R. Patterson & Sons.

June, 1913. THE CARRIAGE MONTHLY
The Patterson Whipper Winning Its Way

A few months ago we published a description of a new device known as the Patterson whipper. This invention is used on storm buggies, and enables the driver to apply his whip in every direction without opening door or window and without exposing his arm to the rain. It operates on the ball-and-socket principle, cannot get out of order, and never rattles. As the whip is firmly clamped in its holder it cannot be lost nor easily stolen.

The Patterson whipper is patented in every feature; nevertheless, it is lower in price than any other whipper on the market. Samples are sent on approval to responsible vehicle builders who write the manufacturers on their business stationery. We are pleased to note that a large number of prominent builders of storm buggies have already adopted this device as a part of their standard equipment, and that the number of inquiries that have been received by the company makes the outlook very encouraging. The Patterson whipper is rapidly winning its way, which is not surprising when its utility and convenience are considered. The whipper is manufactured by C. R. Patterson & Sons, Greenfield, O.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

In 1916, C. H. Patterson, owner of a very successful carriage manfacturing business, C. H. Patterson and Sons, in Greenfield, OH, decided that it was time to start making automobiles. His automobiles were superbly built as were all of his carriages. His first Greenfield-Patterson was a 30 hp, four cylinder coupe. This was the first and only automobile company ever be owned by a black man. He opened his factory for the public to see for themselves the quality of his cars and welcomed each one with a tour around the factory. He also made touring cars

1917 Patterson-Greenfield Coupe

1917 Greenfield Automobile Advertisement

1917 Greenfield-Patterson Advertisement

1917 Greenfield-Patterson Advertisement

No Date is known

In 1919, the company discontinued the automobile portion of the business to the manufacturing of buses and trucks. They continued to make them until 1939.

Bell

1920 Bell Advertisement

The Bell Company was organized in 1915 in York, PA,  and was developed by the Bell Motor Car Company that was owned by Ernest P. Gilliard. He had been involved with  the Pullman and Sphinx cars that had been made in York.  Gilliard designed the Bell Automobile in 1915 for the 1916 season. The initial price was $775, but by 1921, the price had risen to $1,595. During that time, sales were adaquate, but not great. The company moved into the former Pullman when that company went out of business. Also, there had been two presidentss of the company. Charles Riess made the third one when he took over in 1921.and was going  to make the Bell into his Riess Royal. It didn't happen and in 1922, the Bell became a victom of the times

Copied from the January 11, 1917, MOTOR AGE

With 1,525,578 motor cars built during the calendar year 1916, as compared with 892,000 during the calendar year of 1915, it is not surprising that at the present Grand Central
Palace Show there should not be that innovation in chassis-design, etc., which was seen a year ago. The year 1916 must go down as a production year, rather than one of engineering
development. You cannot expect a concern behind in orders and confronted with myriad difficulties in buying materials to introduce new models or make basic changes in the old. The task of the last year to produce sufficient quantities of regular models has been an impossible one.

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